NGO Partnerships Research Articles

Corporate–NGO collaboration and CSR disclosure – the moderating role of corporate profitability

Purpose This research investigates the influence of corporate–NGO collaborations on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure measured in three different ways (i.e. extent, level and quality) in low-income developing economies. Additionally, it examines the moderating effect of corporate profitability in the relationship between corporate–NGO collaborations and CSR disclosure.Design/methodology/approach This research uses multivariate regression analysis based on data collected from 201 non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE).Findings The findings reveal that corporations with NGO partnerships are more likely to disclose CSR information and provide high-quality information regarding workers, the environment and community-related issues. Further, corporate profitability positively moderates the corporate–NGO collaborations and CSR disclosure relationship.Research limitations/implications Research limitations are presented in the conclusion section.Practical implications The findings underline the crucial significance of NGOs and their associated normative isomorphism logics for CSR disclosure in low-income countries with weak law enforcement and relatively ineffective state institutions, which were previously believed to lack such institutions.Originality/value While some research has suggested that companies in developing countries perceive significant pressure from NGOs to adopt social disclosure, no study has specifically explored how internally driven corporate–NGO collaboration (as opposed to external NGO activist pressures) promotes CSR disclosure specifically in developing economies.

How Corporate–NGO Partnerships Affect Eco-Label Adoption and Diffusion

How Corporate–NGO Partnerships Affect Eco-Label Adoption and Diffusion

An Integrated Framework to Assess Greenwashing

In this paper we examine definitions of ‘greenwashing’ and its different forms, developing a tool for assessing diverse ‘green’ claims made by various actors. Research shows that significant deception and misleading claims exist both in the regulated commercial sphere, as well as in the unregulated non-commercial sphere (e.g., governments, NGO partnerships, international pledges, etc.). Recently, serious concerns have been raised over rampant greenwashing, in particular with regard to rapidly emerging net zero commitments. The proposed framework we developed is the first actionable tool for analysing the quality and truthfulness of such claims. The framework has widespread and unique potential for highlighting efforts that seek to delay or distract real solutions that are urgently needed today to tackle multiple climate and environmental crises. In addition, we note how the framework may also assist in the development of practices and communication strategies that ultimately avoid greenwashing.

Operationalisation of Model for Dynamics of COVID-19 in Kenya: Trajectory of Omicron Wave in Kenya

Kenya has experienced five COVID-19 surges driven by Alpha, Beta, Delta (2x), and Omicron. These waves are accurately predicted by the OTOI-NARIMA model. Consequently, in Kenyan Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB), private sector and NGO partnerships have been forged to strengthen regional health systems and prepare effectively for epidemic resurgence. The co-development and implementation of the so-called “LREB COVID-Dx” digital platform enable efficient epidemic monitoring in semi-real time, referral of patients, optimal use of limited resources, and community of practice among regional health practitioners. In this paper, we describe the practical implementation of the OTOI-NARIMA model and COVID-Dx digitized platform in Kenyan COVID-19 reality, with emphasis on the latest Omicron wave. In estimating the trajectory of Omicron wave, 612 data points of daily case infections are used. The order of moving average is calculated and corresponds to reproduction number, R0. The series are normalized, superimposed, and used to derive OTOI-NARIMA model. The model is estimated and interpreted. Test statistics including Ljung-Box test, ACF, and PACF are conducted. The COVID-Dx data digitization is used to inform epidemic preparedness. The OTOI-NARIMA model in general successfully established the periodicity and seasonality of COVID-19 resurgences in Kenya. The model is used to inform preparedness, including vaccines rollout. During alert stages of the wave, on December 4, 2021, the model was reused to nowcast the trajectory of the wave. Omicron wave was projected to peak in Kenya between November 23, 2021, and January 4, 2022. The wave showed strong likelihood of declining after January 29, 2022. In reality, Omicron wave was experienced from November 27, 2021, to January 29, 2022. The model predicted that Omicron variant will have run its full course by June 22, 2022, and possibly replaced by another variant, recombinant or sub-variant. According to OTOI-NARIMA model, dominant variants are replaced after every six months, which gives insights into suitable periods for administration of vaccine boosters. The total number of Kenyan patients (symptomatic or asymptomatic) during Omicron resurgence was estimated to be ~4.5 million. The total number of patients hospitalized during the wave is estimated to be ~2000. Effective, efficient, and economical response to Omicron resurgence in LREB benefitted from meticulous infusion of mathematical modelling and digitization of relevant data for epidemic preparedness and rapid decision making. The study has two limitations: Incomplete merging of stochastic processes and deterministic methods; calculating with accuracy the period it takes to fully replace a dominant COVID-19 variant. These two limitations may be considered for further research.

Toilets for all: corporate social entrepreneurship in Bangladesh and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

Case overview This case uniquely challenges students by introducing the history of how LIXIL transformed its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program to create shared value within the global sanitation sector by launching the SATO business unit as a social enterprise. SATO is a “self-sustaining social business that establishes a local Make, Sell, Use cycle in the community – creating jobs and allowing local manufacturers and stakeholders to continue the business independently” (LIXIL, 2019). From 2012 to 2021, NGOs helped the company design and market the SATO toilet pan and other products that form the SATO business unit. The SATO business unit must balance its social mission of improved sanitation with the need to gain a profit and become a sustainable business – the ongoing challenge of social entrepreneurship. Leaning objectives After completing this case study, students will be able to meet the following objectives: understand the difference in corporate strategy between CSR and ventures that create shared value; understand the sometimes-competing goals of social enterprises and analyze how they can balance both economic and social objectives; understand that developing and emerging markets are different from each other; explain how corporations can decide which markets to pursue, and how they can meet the needs of the diverse BOP markets; understand how the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals can create economic opportunities for corporations; and (optional: suggested for post-graduates) identify activities and challenges of MNC market entry in developing country contexts. Analyze institutional voids in developing country contexts and explore how partnerships can help to address these voids. Complexity academic level This case is most appropriate for the study of international business, corporate social responsibility, and social entrepreneurship students at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The case may be used for undergraduate students to illustrate corporate social entrepreneurship, creating shared value, NGO partnerships, and marketing to the base of the pyramid (BOP) consumers. An optional section on BOP market entry is presented for early- and late-stage post-graduate students, illustrating the concepts of the liability of foreignness and institutional voids. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CCS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Digital philanthropy for the masses: crowdfunding platforms marketising NGO partnerships for individual giving in India

ABSTRACT This article demonstrates the complex role digital crowdfunding platforms play in non-profit fundraising, exploring the nebulous area they occupy when partnered with NGOs in India. Using data from platforms GlobalGiving and Impact Guru to identify the complicated partnerships between platforms and NGOs, it examines the problematic nature of marketised fundraising models. By advocating competitive and technologised practices, crowdfunding platforms create tensions between themselves and their NGO partners, who are forced to continuously adjust and innovate their fundraising strategies. Given their emphasis on profit generation, this article argues that digital platforms limit their intention to create inclusive fundraising spaces for NGOs.

Varieties of gender wash: towards a framework for critiquing corporate social responsibility in feminist IPE

Recent years have seen vast sums of money invested in health, education and economic empowerment Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs for women and girls, particularly in the Global South. Feminist scholars of IPE have charted how transnational corporations (TNCs) have partnered with international institutions, donor governments and non-governmental organizations to position themselves as champions of gender equality. There is some debate in the literature over whether this phenomenon constitutes a co-optation or an appropriation of feminism. In this article, I focus on the behavior of TNCs, arguing that it can be conceptualized as ‘gender wash.’ Drawing on the extensive environmental literature on the ‘greenwashing’ of corporations’ public images, I outline a framework for analyzing CSR as ‘gender washing.’ Adapting Lyon and Montgomery’s summary of the greenwashing literature, I present seven varieties of gender wash – selective disclosure, empty gender claims and policies, dubious certifications and labels, co-opted NGO endorsements and partnerships, ineffective public voluntary programs, misleading narrative and discourse, and misleading branding – giving illustrative examples for each. In doing so, I aim to put forward a useful tool for critiquing contradictory claims made by corporations whose products, business model or employment practices are inherently damaging to women and girls.

Non-governmental organizations social-economic security partnership policy

The purpose of this article is to present the importance of NGO partnerships within civil society. The idea of partnership has become a megatrend in the modern world, which seems to permeate various areas of social, economic, military and even family life. There are three main values that form the foundation of NGO partnerships in the field of security: trust, cooperation and reciprocity. Building pro-social concepts in the area of security, which will be embedded in a model based on the above-mentioned values. They are a supported search of the literature and practice of the plane for due development of new concepts, but also a place for open minds. It can therefore be concluded that the NGO acts as a bridge in the structure of the socioeconomic security system. Creating and enabling organizations to connect and enable them to achieve specific tasks and goals also creates new conditions for improving partnership networks. The organization of research work for the following text was based on the analysis of legal acts related to the objectives of sustainable development, the literature on the subject and documents resulting from the practice of economic life

The road to partnerships in practice: Practical wisdom as an alternative to managerialism in NGO partnerships

AbstractMotivationThe idea of partnerships in international development originated in the 1970s and was canonized in the rhetoric of the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, but such partnerships have been criticized for their inability to create ownership and capacity changes in practice.PurposeThe article presents a case study of a partnership between a Northern NGO (NNGO) and a Southern NGO (SNGO) that aims to enhance capacity development.Approach and methodsWhile acknowledging the critiques of partnerships, we ask how a praxis‐informed analysis of the SNGO–NNGO partnership might create a basis for capacity development. A case study of an NNGO–SNGO partnership that seeks to enhance capacity development.ResultsWe argue that the potential for capacity development through partnerships can be enhanced by using a pragmatically oriented approach that renders visible power relations and values differences between donors and recipients.ConclusionThe case study has implications for partnerships in practice. As partnerships mature, organizational and strategic complexity increase the need for phronetic praxis, or practical wisdom, rather than just sticking to managerialism. An approach to capacity development that is less power‐blind, and more aware of value differences, could enhance the potential for capacity development.Policy implicationsOur study contributes to the pragmatic tradition in partnerships in development, suggesting that the praxis approach can be a way to enhance and deal with opportunities for capacity development.

A Study on the Partnership between the International Organizations and NGOs in Development Cooperation: Focusing on the Selection Criteria and Process Analysis

연구목적: 개도국 사업실행에서 국제기구와 NGO 파트너십의 형성요인과 과정을 분석하고, 국내 개발NGO들이 국제기구 협력사업의 실행 파트너 참여를 활성화하기 위한 실천적ㆍ정책적 시사점을 고찰하고자 한다. 연구의 중요성: 오늘날 국제개발협력 분야에서 개발NGO들의 국제기구와의 사업 실행 파트너십이 확대되는 실존적 현상을 학술적으로 재구성하고 이론화하는 탐색적 연구로서 학문적 기여를 한다. 또한 실천적 측면에서는 한국의 다자개발원조에서 국내 개발NGO의 참여 확대를 위한 참고자료를 제공한다. 연구방법론: 국제기구의 파트너 선정 기준과 절차 분석을 위해 개별 UN기구가 발간하는 보고서 및 파트너십 가이드라인 등과 NGO 파트너십 관련 선행연구에 대한 문헌조사를 실시하였다. 또한 총 74명을 대상으로 국제기구 협력사업 사례 관련 이해관계자 인터뷰와 관계자 심층면담을 진행하였다. 연구결과: 국제기구들은 일반적으로 공식적인 공개 선정 절차를 공유하는 경향을 보인다. 국제기구의 NGO 파트너 선정 조건은 ① NGO의 비전과 미션 및 활동이 국제기구의 전략목표 그리고 우선순위와 부합하는지의 여부, ② 국제기구 협력사업 수행 경험과 사업 수행 역량, ③ 투명한 재정관리 및 회계보고 절차 준수, ④ 민주적이며 윤리적인 조직 내부 거버넌스 구축, ⑤ 사업계획 실행 역량을 갖춘 인적자원과 조직 내부의 재정자원 확보 등 5가지 기준으로 요약된다. 결론 및 시사점: 한국 개발NGO들의 국제기구 파트너십 참여 활성화를 위해 요구되는 한국 정부 차원의 정책적ㆍ제도적 개선 방향은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 한국 NGO가 국제기구 협력사업 발굴 단계에서 활용할 수 있는 자금 지원의 기회를 확대하도록 한다. 둘째, 다자성양자원조 사업에서 한국 NGO, 기업, 학계 등 다양한 민간 행위자들을 국제기구의 실행 파트너로 우선 고려하는 정책 방향을 수립한다.Purpose: This study aims to analyze the processes of international organizations and NGO partnerships in the project implementation in developing countries, and to examine practical and policy implications to activate participation in IO’s projects. Originality: Academic contributions are made as exploratory research that reconstructs and theorizes the existential phenomena in which development NGOs extend their partnerships with international organizations. Methodology: To analyze the criteria and procedures of partner selection for international organizations, we conducted a literature survey of prior research on NGO partnerships. We also conducted stakeholder and in-depth interviews. Result: International organizations generally tend to carry out formal open selection procedures. The criteria for selecting an NGO partner are: ① whether the NGO’s vision, missions, and activities are in line with the strategic goals and priorities of the multilateral organizations, ② experience in carrying out international organization projects, and field performances, ③ transparent financial management and accounting reporting procedures, ④ building democratic and ethical internal governance, and ⑤ ensuring human resources with the ability to implement project plans and securing internal financial resources. Conclusion and Implication: First, the Korean government should expand opportunities for funding that can be utilized for Korean NGOs in the process of developing international organization cooperation projects. Second, in the multilateral aid project, we will establish a policy direction that considers various private actors such as Korean NGOs, businesses, and academics as implementing partners of international organizations.

Save A Life (SALI) model: an intervention model to achieve development goals through public NGO partnership (PNP), capability development and evidence-based practice

Save A Life (SALI) is an innovative model based on public NGO partnerships (PNP) aiming at sustainable solutions/services/projects to save lives in fragile and conflict-affected countries. Achieving the United Nations Developmental Goals (SDGs) requires all service delivery actors to work systemically and in partnership. In this review we describe a model of NGO (SALI), implemented in Sudan. SALI is providing a structured capability development program that transforms local NGOs from being humanitarian aid-dependent, into development-oriented organizations—equal in capability to large private sector clinical health care providers in OECD countries that deliver sustainable core public services guided by evidence. The core components are: effective PNP; capability development program (systems and personnel); robust governance systems supported by an enterprise management system; and applied research and evidence generation. Since the beginning of the pilot phase in Sudan in 2016 (currently two local NGOs are delivering health projects using the SALI model), a considerable progress was achieved. For instance, developing the capability toolkits; training of the country core team to lead the program; establishing PNP core group; and implementing several projects using the SALI model. Initial findings reflect a promising future for this model which will be focusing on institutionalization and certification of the model. The United Nations PPP Centre of Excellence in Geneva has recognized the pilot SALI project as one of the ten best projects in delivering the United Nations Development Goals and recommends the Taqaddum model for Putting People First Partnerships. Investing in the development of local NGOs is a critical lever to achieve the SDGs in fragile and conflict-affected countries. The SALI model is a pragmatic model to transform the way humanitarian projects are designed and delivered to provide sustainable, fit for purpose, and value for money health care services. The initial findings are promising to shape the road for SALI to be a global recognized model of intervention.

The communication of Corporate–NGO Partnerships: analysis of Sainsbury’s collaboration with Comic Relief

This study focuses on CSR communication using the example of Corporate–NGO partnership between British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief. Questionnaires were distributed to 40 participants asking them about their consumer behaviour and opinion on partnerships. Using thematic analysis, two main themes have been identified in the data set: some consumers are sceptical towards cross-sector partnerships because they assume selfish reasons behind the collaboration and view them as corporate PR tool. On the other hand, the majority of consumers evaluate Corporate–NGO Partnerships as appropriate and a gain for society at large. The analysis showed that Sainsbury’s customers know about the partnership with Comic Relief while non-customers lack awareness and that the most successful means of communication of partnerships is the supermarket promotion.

Shell–NGO Partnership and Peace in Nigeria: Critical Insights and Implications

The recent efforts to better understand how businesses can contribute to peace in conflict zones suggest that partnerships can be an effective vehicle for corporate peacebuilding. However, empirical analyses of how partnerships contribute to peace remain limited. Drawing on the differences among cultural, structural, and direct violence, this article examines the extent to which the partnership between Shell and a group of NGOs contributes to peace in the Niger Delta region. Based on qualitative data, the article shows that the partnership contributes to conditions that might ameliorate cultural sources of violence, but not structural causes of direct violence. Hence, business–NGO partnerships are likely more suitable for conflict prevention rather than conflict resolution. The implication is that while partnership might be a useful corporate peacebuilding strategy, it is not necessarily a panacea. The article identifies areas of future research that can strengthen the emerging field of business and peace.

Frictions that activate change: dynamics of global to local non-governmental organizations for female education and empowerment in China, India, and Pakistan

This article examines how non-governmental organizations create resources and spaces for girls and women’s education and empowerment in China, India and Pakistan – in the context of global expectations and local state relations as well as cultural norms. We examine the dynamics that foster female empowerment associated with educational attainment. Analysis showed that the five NGO’s responses to enabling and constraining local needs and demands gave rise to productive friction that activated positive development. We conclude that engaging local individuals as managers, teachers or facilitators who can negotiate with international actors and with the state is an effective foundation for maintaining a balance between being accountable to local contingencies and norms and to global social justice principles of the projects. These models indicated that “effective scale” might better be defined as a collaboration between the local and global, rather than “scaling up” in size.International NGO partnerships with several of state organizations and local leadership can be a catalyst for fundamental change, subject to dynamic engagement with productive friction that activates educational empowerment and social change.

Factors Influencing Effective Management of NGO Partnerships

Partnership is an emergent and dynamic process and working in collaboration with others is never easy especially when it involves organizations with diverse and sometimes conflicting mandates, cultures, capabilities and aspirations. However, local NGOs in developing countries experience difficulties in effectively achieving their mandates without collaborating with others. Effective management of partnerships is important because a failed partnership process can be disastrous and ruin an organization’s viability and legitimacy. The purpose of this paper is to highlight obstacles that hinder effective management of partnerships between Local NGOs (LNGOs) and International NGOs (INGOs). The study results indicate that NGO partnerships added value to development efforts at community level however this good work may be affected if obstacles that hinder effective management of partnerships are not consistently addressed during the partnership lifecycle. The following obstacles were highlighted; minimal involvement in decision making, inadequate technical and organizational capacity, inadequate resources to support partnership objectives, minimal participation in project design, inadequate communication and low levels of commitment. In conclusion the study findings suggest that NGO partnerships still operate at a transactional level. It would be ideal if those who initiate, engage and manage these partnerships progressively shift to more transformational forms of engagement in-spite of the funding aspect.

NGO partnerships in Haiti: clashes of discourse and reality

This paper analyses the existing and perceived rules and restrictions of the global development dispositif working to maintain inequalities in the interactions of international NGOs (INGOs) and Haitian organisations. It does so by exploring constructions of partnership and their clashing realities. Development organisations and agencies have influenced the fabric of Haitian society and politics not only by their mere presence but also by the rules they impose. The paper identifies positions of power and decision making by drawing on Foucauldian tools of discourse analysis. The analysis is based on empirical fieldwork carried out in Haiti between 2012 and 2014. It identifies a narrative of trickle-down pressures that INGOs draw upon to position themselves as intermediaries in the larger development system. By questioning these narratives, the paper provides the starting point for the development of alternatives that would enable international NGOs to assume a role that supports rather than weakens.

Environmental Business–NGO Partnerships in Nigeria: Issues and Prospects

AbstractA number of insightful efforts have explored the nature of business–NGO partnerships and their associated outcomes for sustainable development. While some of these works have helped to clarify the benefits of such partnerships, and the different strategies NGOs can adopt in their interaction with business, others have identified the conditions necessary for a successful partnership. However, the question of how the different strategies adopted by NGOs in their engagement with business interact has remained relatively unexamined. Drawing on an environmental business–NGO partnership for sustainable development in Nigeria, this paper confirms the existence of a creative tension between the different NGOs’ strategies. This creative tension affects the nature of the environmental partnership and performs three main functions. These are an enabling function, a discipline function and a critical distance function. The article concludes by considering the theoretical and practical implications for business–NGO partnerships as a vehicle for sustainable development in developing countries. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Civil Society Partnerships: Power Imbalance and Mutual Dependence in NGO Partnerships

This study examines the distinction between power imbalance and mutual dependence to better understand how NGOs manage resource dependencies in their relationships with civil society partners. The NGO leaders we interviewed emphasized mutual dependence in the relationships they developed with other NGOs regarding access to financial and information resources. In contrast, discourse about their relationships with IGOs focused on the acquisition of legitimacy and access, and was dominated by power imbalance. NGOs were largely accepting of both forms of dependence in pursuit of the community’s shared goals and for the greater good of constituents. Our finding that NGOs refrain from terminating suboptimal relationships also reflects the extent to which mutual dependence governs NGOs partnering strategies.

Bangladesh Health Service Delivery: Innovative NGO and Private Sector Partnerships

The recent health service delivery achievements in Bangladesh have been attributed, in part, to partnerships between the government and non-state actors and the early and rapid adoption of innovations. Through the analysis of two case studies, this article examines the factors contributing to successful partnerships for health market innovations in Bangladesh and the extent to which these innovations can contribute to market systems changes that benefit the poor. The first case examines an innovation which aims to address maternal and child health issues by creating access to information on prenatal and post-natal care through mobile phones. The other case illustrates how Bangladesh's leading NGO partnered with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh to develop a model for rural distribution of a micronutrient food supplement, ‘sprinkles’, to tackle the problem of micronutrient deficiency in young children.

Mission and Interests: The Strategic Formation and Function of North-South NGO Campaigns

International advocacy campaigns allow the concerns of disadvantaged groups in developing countries to reach policymakers. However, recent research has challenged the motivations of the Northern nongovernmental organizations involved and raised concerns about the impacts of North-South NGO partnerships on Southern NGO control. This article addresses these concerns by developing a typology of NGOs based on their financial incentives and the rigidity with which they adhere to their established organizational mission. It then models interactions between NGOs of different types as a strategic game. In the game, NGOs decide whether to enter international campaigns and, if so, manage campaign function to maximize payoff. “Participation-oriented” Northern NGOs, whose supporters reward them for undertaking advocacy, were found to run lengthy but ineffective campaigns and focus on publicity. “Outcome-oriented” groups, whose supporters reward them for measurable achievement, were found to generate higher campaign i...